12. Caden
Caden
“ O kay, yes, send it over. Thanks.” I ended the call and leaned back in my chair.
I’d made several calls this afternoon, tracking down the ESG to all the places they regularly traveled between.
ESG. Shit . Allie was rubbing off on me.
I scraped a hand over my jaw. There was definitely a pattern.
Everywhere these guys had stayed, some guests had subsequently been busted with drugs or suffered overdoses.
My hand curled into a fist, my knuckles turning white.
Added to that, over the last year, several women had been drugged and raped after being in hotel bars.
There’d been no arrests or leads.
Because these assholes moved around. And they covered their tracks.
I tapped my finger on my notes. I needed evidence to take them down. Watching them wasn’t giving us anything.
What I needed was to plant a bug in their rooms.
I had no reason to be in their rooms. My best option was someone with a reason who could plant it for me.
I blew out a breath. I had zero desire to put Allie at risk. I had this damn enormous need to protect her and it was getting worse with every hour. My jaw worked.
She’d do it. In a heartbeat. I knew she wanted to help.
Dammit . I closed my eyes. Remembering shouts and pained groans and blood. Remembering the men I’d failed to keep safe.
I picked up the bug sitting on the table and held it up. It was high-tech. I’d pulled some strings and got some experimental gear from an old military contact. Rising, I slipped the bug into my pocket, and strode out of the conference room.
Whatever I had to do, I’d keep Allie safe. I wouldn’t fail this time.
I spotted one of the housekeeping staff carrying a stack of clean towels. “Have you seen Allie?”
The woman nodded. “She’s in the locker room.”
I didn’t want Allie involved, but it was better to have her involved with me, than watching her trying to do things herself and getting into trouble.
I pushed into the staff locker room, and saw her sitting on one of the benches, untying the laces on her shoes. Her brown top was wet.
“What happened?”
She jolted and pressed a hand to her chest. “You scared me. You need to make more noise.”
“Are you okay?”
She held up a hand. “Ease up, I’m fine. I spilled some floor cleaner on myself.” Her nose wrinkled. “I smell like a pine forest.”
“There are worse things to smell like.”
“Not when you smell this much like a pine forest. My eyes are watering.” She stood and moved behind her open locker door. Then, without hesitating, she pulled her wet shirt over her head.
Fuck .
I couldn’t see anything except smooth bare shoulders and her arms. Still, I turned and listened to the rustling as she got dressed. My cock was hard in my pants. My brain went where it shouldn’t, wondering if she was wearing any panties today under those sensible work pants.
“Okay, I’m decent.”
When I turned back, she was wearing another uniform.
“What do you need, Caden?” she asked.
You . I gritted my teeth. “I need your help.”
Her eyebrows winged up and she shot me a suspicious look. “Really? After all that alpha male overprotectiveness—” she lowered her voice “—Stay away from them, Allie.” She studied me. “You asking for my help was the last thing I expected.”
“I said you could help me. That we’d do this together.”
“I didn’t think you truly meant it.”
“I always mean what I say.”
Her gray gaze wandered over my face. “Yes, I think you do. So, what can I help you with?”
I stepped closer. “I need you to plant a bug in their room.”
Her eyes went wide, then she clapped her hands together and grinned. “Really? My God, that is so cool.”
I shook my head at her excitement.
“I’ll be like James Bond.” She gave a little shimmy.
Damn, I liked seeing her happy. “Allie, keep your voice down.”
“Oh, right.” Her gaze darted around the empty locker room.
She moved closer and I smelled traces of the pine-fresh scent of the cleaner, but it didn’t fully mask the scent of pure Allie coming through.
“Isn’t bugging a room illegal?” she whispered.
“Yes.”
“Ooh.”
“Whatever we hear wouldn’t be admissible, but I’m hoping it gives us some leads. That it’ll lead us to the evidence we need to stop them.” Finding their stash of drugs would be best.
“Right, so what’s the plan?”
I glanced around. It was just the two of us. My half-hard cock was very aware of that.
Focus on the job, Castro . I slid my hand into my pocket and pulled out the tiny listening device. “This is the bug. I need you to plant it under the desk in their room.”
She took it from me, turned it over. “It’s so small.”
“You need to peel the cover off the bottom and stick it to a dry surface. Got it?”
“Got it.”
“Go in, clean the room, plant the bug, and get out. I checked and they’re out on the mountain. They’d planned a full day of mountain biking.”
She gave me a decisive nod. “No problem.”
“Here.” I handed over a Bluetooth earpiece. “Wear it. We’ll stay connected and I’ll talk you through it all.”
She took the earpiece. “I can do this, Broody. For Mellody.”
“I know you can.” I covered her hand with mine. “But if anything worries you or goes wrong, you get out. No risks, Allie.”
“I think overprotectiveness must be in your DNA.”
It was. But it seemed to go into overdrive when it came to this woman.
Her finger stroked my wrist. “Don’t worry. I’ve got this.”
I sat in my office in front of the laptop. I was following the CCTV feed of Allie moving through the hotel. She was pushing a cart into the elevator. I switched to the elevator feed. She was alone, fidgeting. Probably from nerves and a little excitement.
“Relax,” I murmured, my own earpiece in my ear.
On the screen, she touched her ear. “Do you even know the meaning of that word? I think you’re the least relaxed person I know.”
She knew me well. “Just take a deep breath.”
“I can’t relax. I’m on an espionage mission.”
I fought back a smile. “To do that well, you need to look normal.”
“Right.” She straightened and her face smoothed out. She looked at the camera, then winked.
I closed my eyes and fought back laughter.
What the hell was this?
I didn’t laugh. Laughter had been me before all my assignments and missions. Before long, hard days slogging through deserts or jungles, dodging gunfire. Before I’d lost people who were like brothers to me.
That me didn’t exist anymore.
Except around Allie.
She wheeled her cart out of the elevator and my muscles tensed. Now she looked serious. I watched her as she headed down the hall towards the ESG’s rooms.
Nerves fizzed through me. Fuck, I didn’t get nervous. I’d already confirmed that the four guys were out on the mountain. I’d checked with Sierra. Our outdoor-activities coordinator didn’t much like the guys, either.
“Entering target location,” Allie murmured.
I couldn’t hold back my chuckle this time.
On screen, Allie paused at the door. “Oh my God, you have a sexy laugh.” Then she gasped. “Forget I said that.” She left the cart in the hall and grabbed a stack of towels. She knocked and announced herself, then knocked again.
She headed inside. I had no visuals inside the guestrooms. I tapped my fingers on the table. I didn’t like having her out of my sight.
“I’m pretending to put towels out, but I already cleaned the room earlier. Did I mention these guys are pigs?”
I imagined her moving around. A second later, I saw her as she dumped some towels in the cart and hurried back into the room.
“Planting the bug now.”
My muscles tensed. I waited in silence.
Minutes ticked by.
“Allie?”
“Dammit, it’s not sticking.”
“Is the back cover completely off?”
“Yes. God, trust me to get a dud bug. Hang on.”
I tapped the table some more. Then I saw a text message pop up on my phone. I almost ignored it. It could wait until Allie was out of the room. But then I saw it was from Sierra.
One of the ESG took a tumble. They’re heading back to the hotel.
“Fuck. Allie, abort. The guys are on their way back.”
“What?” She cursed. “No, I can get this in place.”
I slapped my hands on the table. “Allie!”
“I’m planting this damn thing.” There was more cursing.
With a curse of my own, I grabbed a new bug off the table and sprinted out of the office. “I’m coming.”
At the end of the corridor, I walked swiftly through the lobby toward the stairs. Just as I got to the stairwell, I saw the ESG enter the lobby, one of them limping. The blond asshole Blake had an arm around him, helping him.
I shouldered through the door into the stairwell. I took the stairs two at a time, moving fast. A moment later, I sprinted down the hall and used my security key card to open the empty room beside the ESG’s rooms, then pushed Allie’s cart inside.
When I reached the ESG’s room, I touched my own earpiece. “I’m coming in, Allie.”
I unlocked the door and eased it closed behind me.
She stood near the desk, holding up the bug. “It’s not sticking. I thought about hiding it somewhere else.”
“I’ve got another one.” I took the base off. “We’ve got to be quick. I saw them in the lobby.”
She paled. “Oh, God.”
“Here.” I handed her the bug.
She crouched and slid under the desk, then she pressed the bug to the underside of the wood.
Then she straightened. “Done.”
I grabbed her arm and hurried toward the door.
Voices in the hall.
Hell . “They’re coming.”
Her face went even paler.
My mind went cool and focused. Just like it had on a mission. I hauled her back across the room. This room had a balcony, and I carefully pulled the curtains half closed and opened the sliding door.
“Out,” I ordered.
“We can’t hide on the balcony. They’ll see us. And we can’t jump. We’re on the third floor, Broody.”
“Trust me.”
She stepped outside, just as I heard the front door to the room open.
Calmly, I closed the glass slider and hauled Allie back against the side wall where we were hidden by the partially closed curtains. I pressed her against the wall, shielding her with my body.
“That was a wild fucking tumble, bro,” a voice said from inside.
“Yeah, my knee’s throbbing like a bitch.”
“Ice it, then take a bath.”
“Then we’ll find a pretty young thing to give you a blowjob,” someone else added.
There was laughter.
Allie’s expression was one of disgust.
I pressed my lips to her ear. “Stay quiet.”
She nodded, her hair brushing my cheek, her small, firm breasts pressed to my chest.
“We need beers,” a voice said. “I’ll get them from the mini-fridge.”
“Who wants to sit on the balcony?”
I tensed, and Allie gripped my shirt.
“Nah, I need to keep my leg up. The bed’s comfier.”
I relaxed, but only a little. At any time, one of them could step out here and see us. We needed to get off this balcony.
I edged us over to the railing and looked down. “We’re going to climb over.”
She shook her head. “You’re joking,” she whispered.
“No.”
Her hands twisted in my shirt. “Caden?—”
“I won’t let you fall. I’d prefer not to get busted by these assholes.”
She blew out a breath. “Okay. If I break my neck, I’m blaming you.”
“I’ll go first.”
Staying out of view of the room’s inhabitants, I climbed over the railing, holding it tightly and letting my body drop over and dangle. I looked down, then let go.
My feet hit the railing of the balcony below and I caught it with my hands. I steadied myself, then stood on the balcony. Thankfully, this guest room was empty.
“Okay, Allie. Climb over and dangle down.”
She did. “Oh God, I’m going to die.” But she eased over the railing.
Reaching up, I gripped her legs. “I’ve got you. Let go.”
She did. The trust she had in me made my chest warm. I hauled her against me.
“One level down, one to go,” I told her.
She gripped my shoulders. “Why can’t we go through the room?”
“I can’t open the sliding door from this side.” The sliders didn’t have electronic locks. I absorbed the feel of her. Her cheeks were pink, her gaze fixed on my face.
Focus, Castro.
“Okay, so there’s no balcony below us.”
She looked over the railing down, down at the patch of dead grass below. “I don’t want to go splat. Ollie needs me.”
I pressed a finger under her chin. Damn, her skin was smooth. “There will be no splat. I promise.”
She pulled in a shaky breath. “Okay.”
Reluctantly, I let her go and climbed over. I studied the drop below. I’d leaped from higher.
I let go.
I heard Allie gasp, but then I landed, bent my knees, and rolled. When I rose and turned, she was staring down at me, mouth open.
“You really are like James Bond.”
With a faint smile, I shook my head. “No, I’m just well-trained.” I gestured. “Come on. I’ll catch you.”
She hesitated, then gingerly climbed over the railing. I saw her lips moving. Maybe she was praying or calling me names.
“I’ve got you, Allie. I promise.”
She lifted her chin, then jumped.
I caught her in my arms and heard the air rush out of her.
Safe . Relief punched through me. That was all that mattered.
She gripped my shoulders. “You caught me.”
“Always.”
Then she wound her legs around my waist. My heart started pounding.
“Caden…” Her mouth touched mine.
With a growl, I spun and pinned her to the wall and kissed her back.
This kiss wasn’t sweet or gentle. It was hot and hungry.